Chapter 40

FORTY

Kane followed, taking note of the footprints. They were the same as before, made from generic rubber boots. At the entrance to the alleyway, he found a rounded pattern on the ground, the same as they’d found in the barn at the Old Mitcham Ranch. The killer had followed the exact same pattern by undressing and taking his soiled clothes with him. Toward the end of the alleyway, Wolfe had erected a number of lights. The stark reality of what had happened to Lily Jones was out there for all to see. Kane had always believed that war had hardened him against even the most abhorrent crimes against mankind, but what had happened to Lily turned his breakfast into a solid ball that weighed heavy in his stomach. Again, the killer hadn’t touched the victim’s face, but this time had hacked off her head. He turned to look at Wolfe. “Why so much blood? Surely, she couldn’t have survived very long with these injuries.”

“Our minds often focus on the main subject of interest.” Wolfe stood to one side. “Take another look. Can you see now why there’s so much blood? Like with the previous murder, this killer had no intention of making Lily’s death painless or fast.”

“He cut off her hands.” Jenna stared down at the corpse and then pointed at the steps leading to the back of the beauty parlor. “He left them where she could see them.”

Turning back to Wolfe, Kane waited for his friend to straighten from taking the temperature of the body. “Did you notice a weapon anywhere?”

“Nope, we only arrived thirty minutes or so ago and haven’t gotten to that yet.” Wolfe indicated with his chin toward his assistant Colt Webber. “We’ve documented the scene and taken videos and photographs. If you can do a search, we’ll start collecting the body parts and get her back to the morgue.”

Kane nodded. “Rowley will get this blood cleaned up when you’re done.”

“It’s fine. Webber will do it.” Wolfe’s eyes held a deep sadness. “Your time is better spent finding the maniac who did this.”

Nodding, Kane turned as Jenna hurried along the alleyway swinging her flashlight. He followed close behind, opening dumpsters as he went and searching for the murder weapon, but found nothing. As they walked back toward Main, Jenna bent to pick up the high heels. She handed them to him and he pushed them into an evidence bag.

“I’ve found her purse.” Jenna moved her flashlight alongside the wall belonging to the beauty parlor. After using her phone to take a photograph, she picked up the purse and turned it over in her hand. “There’s no blood, so she dropped it when she was running away.”

The clip on the purse was open, and a few personal items had spilled onto the sidewalk. Kane took more photographs and then collected the items. “What’s inside her purse?”

“A packet of tissues, a phone, and house keys.” Jenna dropped the purse inside an evidence bag and held it open for him. “What did you find?”

Kane dropped the items into the bag. “A lipstick, a hairbrush, and a stick of deodorant.”

“I can see what looks like a trail of blood droplets beside the footprints over there.” Jenna moved her flashlight back and forth. “I figure Wolfe needs to see them. They look different to me.” She tucked her flashlight under one arm and took photographs.

Kane waited for Wolfe to walk back into the alleyway after placing the body in the back of the van. “We didn’t find the murder weapon, but we found her purse and shoes.” He pointed to the blood droplets in a line on the ground. “What do you make of this blood trail?”

“It’s the same as the cast-off blood spatter I found on the walls and the dumpster. It tells the story of the attack better than being there.” Wolfe waved a hand at the blood trail. “It could be from the murder weapon, or his hands were dripping with blood. I took samples just in case he was injured during the attack, as we are assuming he wiped his hands and changed clothes before leaving as before.” He sighed. “My bet is it’s from the ax.” He removed his examination gloves and rolled them up into a ball. “I’ve documented everything and will give you a full analysis on Monday morning. If I could do this faster, I would, but the body is in such bad shape it’s going to take a long time to complete the autopsy.”

“I understand but I can see that this blood spatter is unusual.” Jenna frowned. “The drops of blood look different. Can you explain why this occurred?”

“Not a problem.” Wolfe pointed to the blood trail. “The shape of the blood droplets indicates direction. When you see both shapes, as in this case, it tells me he was swinging the ax as he walked. Each blood droplet tells a story. The pointed end faces away from the direction the killer was traveling. Swinging the ax would make blood spatter fly in both directions, so you see the blood droplets seemingly facing each other.” He looked from one to the other and moved along the blood trail. “As he gets closer to the sidewalk, he stops swinging the ax. See, from the narrow end of the drips, even though they’re getting smaller, they prove he was heading toward the road, not away from it.” He sighed. “I’d sure like to get hold of that ax. It could be covered in DNA evidence. Many killers believe they can remove DNA from murder weapons but I can usually find traces where they wouldn’t even imagine looking for them.”

Absorbing the cast-off blood knowledge and locking it away for future reference, Kane nodded. “We’ll do our best to find it for you.”

“I know you will.” Wolfe removed his face mask and smiled at them. “Once Webber has hosed down the sidewalk, I’m done here.” He looked at Jenna. “I figure I could narrow down the time of death if we knew when Lily left the beauty parlor. I recall that she kept the store open late on Friday nights. I’ve heard the girls talking about it. I could give you an approximate time going on rigor mortis and body temperature, but I believe the window is narrower. The evidence suggests she was attacked as she left work, which would put the time of death between nine and say midnight. That’s a very small window but it might catch you a killer.”

“Thanks. I’ll get onto it right away.” Jenna removed her mask and walked back to Rio and Rowley. “Take a break and grab breakfast. I’m heading into the office to make some calls. I need to know what our suspects were doing between nine and midnight last night.”

“Okay.” Rio headed for his truck with Rowley close behind.

Something didn’t seem right to Kane and he stood for a few moments scanning the alleyway. He turned when Jenna touched his arm. “Don’t you figure it seems strange for a woman alone to leave by the back door into a dark alleyway rather than going out the front into the light?” He held up the evidence bags and opened the one with the keys. He still wore his examination gloves and headed out the alleyway and pointed the key fob at the few cars parked alongside Main. When one vehicle’s lights lit up, a few yards from the front of the beauty parlor, he turned to Jenna. “It doesn’t make sense why she would leave from the back door.”

“Maybe she needed to dump some garbage?” Jenna rubbed her temple, thinking. “We didn’t check to see if the back door of the beauty parlor is locked.”

Kane nodded. “I’ll look, but I figure it’s locked because why would she leave with her purse if she intended to go back inside? I’ll look inside the dumpster out back of the beauty parlor to see if there are any garbage bags in there filled with stuff from the store.”

After hooking out the two bags on the top of the garbage, Kane tore them open and turned to Jenna. “These are from the beauty parlor.” He tossed them back inside the dumpster. “I wonder if she makes a habit of dumping the garbage before she leaves on Fridays?”

“That looks like a ton of garbage.” Jenna stared at the dumpster. “I figure that would be enough for a week not a day. You’d think she would get one of the apprentices or the cleaner to dump the garbage. It seems an unusual thing for an owner to do.” She made a note in her notebook. “I’ll be sure to ask the staff. I believe Lily was in a partnership in the business. We’ll need to call the other owner and tell her what’s happened.” She headed toward the Beast.

Kane nodded. “I’ll do that. You’ll need to call the suspects and find out if they have alibis for last night. Getting a call from the sheriff will give them something to think about.”

“As long as they don’t come at me with an ax.” Jenna gave him a wary look.

Being able to outdraw anyone he’d ever met, Kane drew his weapon fast and Jenna took a step back eyes wide. “If anyone can swing an ax faster than I can draw down on them, I’ll quit my job.” He slowly reholstered his weapon. “Trust me, no one is getting near you with an ax.”